This Is The End Of The Line For The USAF's Most Versatile Cargo Jet

[n2doc]

The C-17 has been in production for 25 years, with 279 Globemasters emerging from Boeing's (and once McDonnell Douglas') historic Long Beach factory. Yesterday, the final aircraft had its wings mated to its massive fuselage, ending not just the production run of the C-17, but the 72-year-old plant that produced it.

Although the quad-engine transport found some export success later in its production life – with Canada, Australia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, India, and NATO's heavy lift wing receiving copies – the demand for large transport aircraft has softened as defense budgets around the globe retract. Add in the fact that out-sized cargo transport can be purchased by the hour from commercial vendors, including operators that fly the larger Soviet-designed An-124, and the high operating and sustainment costs of owning the C-17 begin to look like a waste.

When it comes to the USAF, the C-17 may be a victim of its own success. The jet is so effective at its job that more units aren't required to "take up the slack" for the USAF's aging transport fleet.

In many ways, the C-17 was the perfect aircraft for the last 15 years of conflict in the Middle East, with its ability to take large loads into and out of combat zones, even on short and less than perfect runways. But that capability came at the price of high-fuel usage while cruising.

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http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/this-is-the-end-of-the-line-for-the-usafs-most-versatil-1688525621/+damon

[Octafish]

1. Catch-22

Jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight wars for oil that the used a lot of oil war the jet helped fight for oil.

The DoD accounted for around 1 percent of the US energy consumption and 80 percent of the federal government energy consumption. Although this may seem small, the fact is that the Pentagon is the largest single consumer of energy in the World. Nigeria, with a population of more than 160 million, consumes as much energy and emits as much CO2 as the US military.

SOURCE: http://www.dailyenergyreport.com/how-much-energy-does-the-u-s-military-consume-an-update/

[TwilightGardener]

2. Husband and I were stationed at Charleston AFB when they got the first C-17

to replace the C-141's. Feel old now.

[Downwinder]

3. Don't talk like that, I flew the C-124.

[TwilightGardener]

4. You win.

[GGJohn]

6. Flew in the C-124 that delivered our Huey's to Nam.

I feel old also.

[cpwm17]

8. I spent over ten years at Charleston AFB, SC

and I worked flight-line maintenance on the C-17. We kept busy. It was my favorite job I had in the Air Force. They already had some C-17's when I got there, but the C-141's were still operational.

[TwilightGardener]

9. The C-141's had a distinctive, loud, rattle-y, jangly engine sound--

to me, anyway. No matter where you were in Charleston/North Charleston, you could hear them circling around. The C-17's seemed much quieter, just came in with a low hum or "whoooosh". The coolest were the occasional C-5's--big, loud low-pitched constant BUZZZZZ, like a giant bumble bee.

[cpwm17]

10. I felt fortunate to work on the much quieter C-17

It saved me from hearing damage. When I was working while a C-5 taxied by I didn't always have a chance to grab my hearing protection. The sound is almost terrifying up close.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

5. I remember the Boxcar!

[HubertHeaver]

7. The last C-119 I saw had been re-configured

Last edited Mon Mar 2, 2015, 06:45 AM - Edit history (1)

as a gunship--the AC-119 Shadow, if I recall correctly (been accused of having trouble with the 'correctly' part, lately).